By ANNE BESTON
An alien invader is devastating thousands of kilometres of seabed throughout the Hauraki Gulf, says a top scientist.
The tube worm is a tiny marine organism that rapidly reproduces inside a crustaceous tube.
The 6cm worms build their papery tubes, up to 20cm in length, at an alarming rate, and cement them together to form a carpet-like layer over huge tracts of seabed, suffocating other marine life.
Auckland University senior marine biologist Dr Bob Creese said that since the worm was discovered by scallop fishermen in 1997 near Whitianga, debate had raged over whether it was a native species or an alien.
"Its sudden appearance in such large numbers, its dominance close to the main shipping lanes into Auckland and the fact that it has spread so rapidly in the past three years strongly suggest we are witnessing a major marine invasion," he said.
The worm has spread as far north as Houhora, has been found at the Whangarei Heads and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and as far south as Tauranga.
Coromandel scallop fishermen are frustrated that the Ministry of Fisheries has ignored warnings about the worm.
"It's buggered our industry but the ministry has just shoved us aside," said Peter Sopp, secretary of the Coromandel Scallop Fishermen's Association.
"We don't want compensation but we need help."
Mr Sopp said that once the tube worm, which is a filter feeder, moved into an area, scallops simply could not compete.
He is adamant that over-fishing is not the cause of this latest problem in the troubled fishery, which was affected by black skirt disease last year.
"People think we're just greedy fishermen but we believe this is an imported species. We are trying to look after the fishery."
Green Party co-leader and Coromandel MP Jeanette Fitzsimons said the ministry had come under "extreme criticism" for treating the worm as just a scallop industry problem.
"There is a perception that maybe the scallop fishery is not worth saving but this is an issue which is going to affect all fishing in the gulf."
The ministry could not be contacted for comment.
Dr Creese said the ministry had agreed to finance a survey of the worm's spread but it might not be possible to get rid of it.
"I don't want to be alarmist but there's just so much of it around.
"At the moment we just don't have the information to act to stop it."
A similar organism had invaded coral reefs off the coast of northern New South Wales, Dr Creese said. But its spread had not been as rapid as in New Zealand.
Alien tube worm suffocating seabed, scallop industry
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